Friday, August 31, 2007
Became?
Paul Krugman:
And have been, since Reagan.
That working class white Americans could turn their noses up at the victims of Katrina, swallowing and regurgitating whole the propaganda that the victims were themselves to blame (ssh!! -- for being black --) is confirmation, not revelation, of what the reality here has been since Reagan told racist Americans what they wanted to hear: that yes, black people really were on welfare and driving around in Cadillacs paid for by the taxes of hard-working whites.
Katrina wasn't the moment of change; it was the moment of truth.
- Future historians will, without doubt, see Katrina as a turning point. The question is whether it will be seen as the moment when America remembered the importance of good government,
- or the moment when neglect and obliviousness to the needs of others became the new American way.
And have been, since Reagan.
That working class white Americans could turn their noses up at the victims of Katrina, swallowing and regurgitating whole the propaganda that the victims were themselves to blame (ssh!! -- for being black --) is confirmation, not revelation, of what the reality here has been since Reagan told racist Americans what they wanted to hear: that yes, black people really were on welfare and driving around in Cadillacs paid for by the taxes of hard-working whites.
Katrina wasn't the moment of change; it was the moment of truth.
